Originally published at: Enjoy the track visions by Surfing | Boing Boing
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Do they, though?
Some people are quite fond of this archaic form of communication and entertainment called BOOKS…
Less broad assumptions, more listening and observing those who are different from one’s self.
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If it makes you feel any better, The Great Gatsby and Invisible Man are my comfort novels. I try to read them every couple of years when I feel blue.
It’s essentially the same principle. Even so, your point is noted.
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It’s not about how I feel, though that info does provide a little more insight into your persona and the way you write.
(Frankly, I hated the Great Gatsby, and felt nothing for any of the shallow, one-dimensional characters, including the protagonist.)
Since you mention it, my comfort novels are a Wrinkle in Time and the Dark Tower series, so clearly I’m no ‘high literature’ snob.
And Ellison’s the Invisible Man give you “comfort”… really? Wow.
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At the risk of sounding basic in so many ways, saying “Alexa, play lo-fi hip hop chill” has gotten me through some rough debugging sessions.
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Fitzgerald’s prose has always been the main event in all of his books. His plots leave a LOT to be desired. The Great Gatsby is basically rich people sniping at each other for a few hundred pages…but the prose is so hypnotic and elegant that I can’t help but fall in love.
Invisible Man comforts me because it was the first book that helped me “feel seen.” I felt like no author or auteur encapsulated my experience as a Black American like Ralph Ellison. It was the first book that made me feel like I wasn’t either alone or crazy. The content in the book is super rough, though. Lol
I need to check out Dark Tower.
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That’s exactly why it didn’t resonate with me, regardless to any flowery prose the author employed; it was a bunch of White people of privilege whining about first world problems that they created for themselves.
Ah, I understand now.
For me, that pivotal book wasn’t a novel, but an autobiography:
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Malcolm? He’s the man.
He was my first favorite activist. Well, him and Muhammad Ali, if you consider him one. My parents practically showed me Malcolm X speeches before Elmo.
I still love Malcolm, but now that I’m older, I gravitate more to James Baldwin.
That’s why I love it. Lol I read Fitzgerald’s stuff as a comedy. I approach every one of his books(which feature rich white people throughout) like Seinfeld. Everyone is a narcissistic D-bag that gets their just desserts by the end of the book.
The Beautiful and the Damned is probably his funniest novel that exemplifies this concept. Gatsby gets adapted as a drama FAR too much for my tastes…but that’s just me.
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I always enjoy music recommendations that have a relatively low number of views…means it’s at least somewhat off the beaten track.
Here’s one I saw on public access TV in Hawaii and instantly became a favorite…still less than 1.5K views years later.
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I do; he stood up for what he believed in, even when it cost him his heavy weight title.
Oh, you sweet summer child; just wait.
As do I, ever since I was about your age.
I made sure to see I Am Not Your Negro in the theater, back when it first came out.
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